Once upon a time, there were rules in fashion—like, say, giving white clothing a full stop after Labor Day. Our attitudes have since changed into a new modus operandi: anything goes. Henceforth, the new style manifesto—in both the fashion industry and social media—is an open call for everyone to wear whatever, whenever. Birkenstocks, once viewed…
In ELLE.com’s monthly series Office Hours, we ask people in powerful positions to take us through their first jobs, worst jobs, and everything in between. This month, we spoke to Emily Hikade, who left her career in the CIA to start a pajama brand after a near-death experience on an airplane. “I was heading to…
On and off social media, watermelons are being used as a symbol to communicate solidarity with Palestinians in the deadly war between Israel and Hamas. The fruit is painted on semicircles of cardboard at protests in support of Palestinians. The watermelon emoji appears next to the Palestinian flag in display names on TikTok and X,…
Think about your most exciting purchase or gift this year. It was a chic designer bag, wasn’t it? Well, it’s time to take that excitement into 2024 because there will be plenty of trends to help spice up your life in the new year. Textures, silhouettes, and color palettes are poised to make the next…
When Judy Pellarin had her daughters three decades ago, she and her husband gave them her last name instead of his. A generation later, her daughters also broke tradition — one gave her daughter her surname, and the other created a new name, a blending of her and her husband’s middle names. Though some families…
“Roll me up and smoke me when I die,” Willie Nelson sang from the stage of the Hollywood Bowl during his 90th birthday celebration in April. As usual, Mr. Nelson looked very much at ease. He was wearing a cowboy hat over a red bandanna, and his hair spilled down his back. His trusty guitar,…
I am 68 and live alone in a nice home in the suburbs. My only child, 40, is happily settled with his fiancée in another city. I always hoped they would come back here to raise a family, and I offered to give them my home if they did. They like the idea and plan…
He’ll Be Home for Christmas! “I’ll drive; it’s 20 hours and I’ll be there for Christmas dinner,” my husband, Edwin, said, undeterred after a Canadian snowstorm grounded all flights. Imagining a fatality replacing our festivities, I insisted he come by train. Hours in, Edwin’s locomotive halted, its tracks blocked by debris. Eighteen hours of standstill…
ATTENTION: If you haven’t written down your 2024 intentions yet, now is the time. While you’re at it, consider what the 2024 jewelry trends you want to wear throughout the next year. After all, the glimmering baubles a woman wears say a lot about her personality to both herself and the world. What’s her style?…
One afternoon in August 2020, while staying at her parents’ house in the Hudson Valley, Jean Garnett, an editor at Little, Brown & Company, prepared to meet remotely with the author Chantal V. Johnson, whose novel “Post-traumatic” she wanted to acquire for publication. She had to find a private place to take the call, not…